Mass Effect 3 at Gamescom – What We Learned

It’s been a big week for Mass Effect fans. Leaving out the controversy surrounding the Female Shepard facebook voting move by Bioware, Gamescom delivered an absolute plethora of new information regarding the final game in the Mass Effect trilogy. Below is a summary of all the new information we learned about Mass Effect 3 at Gamescom.

The Casual difficulty setting will remain the same as it has been in previous games, although new enemies may require players to try new tactics

Veteran difficulty setting is ‘the new normal’

Miranda will return (assuming she’s alive in your game) and will have a large role to play. She apparently has ‘unfinished business’ with Shepard

Legion will also return (again assuming he’s alive in your game) and will have a large role to play

Paragon decisions will not necessarily result in the best outcomes all the time

The engineer was used in demo’s, showcasing the abilities Incinerate and Cryo Blast. Their heavy melee attack is an incinerating omni-blade

The Collector’s Edition robot dog has the ability to follow Shepard around the Normandy, as well as play fetch. It will also have its own backstory

Time sensitive story elements may be included in the game as Bioware wants to convey a sense of urgency to the storyline

Bioware asserts that Mass Effect 3 will make you cry, even if you have a heart of stone

Mass Effect 3 will feature more environments than the number shown in Mass Effect 2

Kal’Reegar will return

There will be minigames featured, but no announcements on what sort

James Vega’s voice actor will be revealed soon – Bioware seemed very excited about who was playing him

Quarians may be shown without their masks

Indoctrination may play a larger role in the main storyline than has been revealed so far

There will be a greater amount of romance options than those available in Mass Effect 2. Possibly non-squadmate romance options

You are able to change classes if you import a save from Mass Effect 2, however you will go back to level 1, and will not have the perks associated with keeping your class the same when carrying through a save

Whether or not your Shepard had their Spectre status re-instated will affect Mass Effect 3

Conrad Verner will return

The Normandy will have an Alliance colours repaint and will feature some new interiors, but it will be the same as the SR2 for the most part

How many squadmates you are able to talk to aboard the Normandy will depend on mission context

Mission debriefings will be deeper than what they were in Mass Effect 2

Female Shepard will have a lot more hairstyle options

All squadmates will receive an ending and will have closure for their stories, regardless of whether they are squadmates in the final game

The game will feature more squadmate banter

The Yahg (the species of the Shadow Broker) will be seen

Mass Effect 3 will feature loyalty of races/species rather than loyalty of individuals

What happens to squadmates will now not always be up to Shepard and Shepard’s actions

The number of squadmates available will be smaller than in Mass Effect 2

Kelly Chambers will return (if she survived your game)

Thane is still alive (again, if he survived your game)

There will apparently not be female counterparts of Salarians, Turians and Krogans shown in Mass Effect 3 (aside from the Krogan Princess featured in the gameplay shown already)

The conflict between the Quarians and the Geth will be concluded in Mass Effect 3

Despite Bioware changing music composers, music from the first two games will make its way into the third game

Side quests will play a role in the main mission and will be in line with the main plotline

Cerberus is against Shepard in the game and it will not be possible for Shepard to align with them

Squadmates armor will be customizable again

Phew. That’s a lot of new information for fans to digest. And Bioware will be sure to have even more new information at PAX next week. As always, we’ll keep you informed.

Tash is a self-diagnosed gaming fanatic with a doctorate in Psychology. She's also a self-confessed Mass Effect fangirl and will likely talk your ears off if you ever get her started on the subject. A lover of all things RPG and adventure, she has more gamer related action figures and memorabilia than any 20 something year old professional has a right to own, and has spent more time than she’d like to admit to daydreaming about exactly what she would do should the Zombie Apocalypse actually happen.